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Editorial: Our 911 dispatch system must keep pace with technology

Technology changes and advances so much these days that government often struggles to play a constant game of catch-up. But in life-or-death matters such as 911 emergency calls, there is no wiggle room for error.

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OPINION

Editorial: Our 911 dispatch system must keep pace with technology

Technology changes and advances so much these days that government often struggles to play a constant game of catch-up. But in life-or-death matters such as 911 emergency calls, there is no wiggle room for error.

That's why we were pleased this week to see the state Senate approve a bill that aims to ensure that when you call 911 from your cellphone, the call gets routed directly to the proper police, fire or medical emergency agency. The bill is now awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown's signature, and after unanimous approvals in the Senate and Assembly, we encourage him to quickly sign it into law.

AB 1564 was authored by Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Carpinteria, who told The Star last year about a man who called 911 from his cellphone to report a family member having a medical emergency. The call was routed to a dispatch center 30 miles away, even though the man lived only a quarter-mile from a Santa Barbara fire station. Emergency personnel didn't make it there in time, and the relative died of an accidental drug overdose.

Williams said it was not an isolated incident; that many 911 calls from cellphones in this state are routed to the California Highway Patrol even though the callers are not on freeways. CHP dispatchers must then get more information from the caller, figure out which local police or fire agency should handle the call, and then reroute it.

It all adds up to unnecessary delays in potentially crucial situations.

Back in 1973, the Legislature passed the Warren-911 Act, which established our 911 system. Before that, the state had thousands of different phone numbers you could call in an emergency.

Most 911 calls were made via landline phones back then, allowing them to go directly to the correct local agency. When mobile phones were introduced, 911 calls made from them were all routed to the CHP, because most cellphones were only in cars and the emergencies were assumed to be happening on roads or highways.

Today, 80 percent of all 911 calls are coming from mobile devices, yet 49 percent of them still get routed to the CHP, according to the Legislature's analysis of AB 1564.

Thanks to a project in 2009 called 'Routing on Empirical Data,' Ventura County is at 'the cutting edge' of 911 cellphone technology, officials said. Because of GPS and other improvements, when someone here reports an emergency via a cellphone, the call is routinely routed to the correct agency.

But other areas of the state are not so well-equipped. In downtown Santa Barbara, for example, a cellphone 911 call may be routed to Ventura CHP dispatchers, depending on the wireless carrier, Williams said.

His bill requires the state Office of Emergency Services to work with the CHP, local police and fire departments and the wireless industry to regularly review and improve the 911 routing system.

Current law allows such reviews, but the bill would require the state to conduct them every year and make any necessary changes to keep the routing system current with new facilities and new technology. Local police, fire or emergency medical agencies also could ask for a specific review of call routing in a certain area.

The bill has a long list of supporters, including the American Heart Association, American Medical Response, California Fire Chiefs Association, California Peace Officers' Association, Santa Barbara County and the League of California Cities. There is no listed opposition.

Our 911 system has saved countless lives since its inception, and government must do whatever it can to ensure its effectiveness, no matter how much technology changes.

Read or Share this story: https://www.vcstar.com/story/opinion/editorials/2016/08/17/editorial-our-911-dispatch-system-must-keep-pace-with-technology/88962544/